College Textbooks

[zurgswife]

Would there really be a significant difference between a 3rd edition and 4th addition of a literature book for Eng 102? The price difference is huge and money is tight. I have found my science books have some specific differences but I can't see how an english book printed 2 years apart would. Any thoughts.

 

[MushyMushy]

Honestly, no. And if there's a story missing from your edition, just ask the prof to make a copy or allow you to make a copy of it.

If it were a math/science/business/medical subject, I'd say yes, but not for lit.

 

[zurgswife]

Thanks Mushy.

 

[Jockaroo]

Some professors will place a copy of the new text on reserve in the library. They will tell students to get the old version and if there are differences use the copy in the library. For a lit book, I would think the differences could be footnote documentation/commentary, the inclusion/exclusion of a few stories, and page number differences. I would ask someone in class to look at their book and compare the table of contents (maybe even write down the beginning pages from the new book into the old book).

 

[Cindy B]

It really depends. The text could contain stories or rhetorical agruments that are not in the same book.

In most cases the 102 could could also be titled Rhetorical Analysis. In each edition there could be different assignments on rhetoric and/or logic.

Your best bet would be to contact the professor and or dept. head. Most professors don't care and some really do.

I usually wait until the first day of classes because I have been burned to much by buying the books needed only to be told "I don't require that text".

 

[Cindy B]

Honestly, no. And if there's a story missing from your edition, just ask the prof to make a copy or allow you to make a copy of it.

If it were a math/science/business/medical subject, I'd say yes, but not for lit.

Most stories are available online. I used a different edition of a certain text, and I could find all the available texts online either via a google search or by using JSTOR.

 

[clh2]

FOR THE RECORD - I AM ON MY SOAPBOX...

The revision of textbooks is just a big scam, and the professors get pressure from the textbook companies to update their textbooks, so that students "HAVE" to purchase them, and then...surprise surprise...the textbook companies make more money. From what I understand, this just irritates the professors, because they aren't about the money (or they would be in private industry) they are really about teaching the kids.

I would personally use the old version, find where there is a copy in a campus library - where you can occasionally review the current text if it varies substantially from what your textbook is.

 

[Gina]

From a fellow student, I would just pony up and get the required edition. Don't even get me started on the whole scam of it... But the bottom line is, don't cause yourself even more headaches over it. One semester, I cheaped out and got a different edition of a book. While I doubt the info was any different, it had been rearranged differently... which meant that every time the professor gave an assignment, I was reading the wrong info based on the page numbers in the assignment. I finally had to explain to the prof what was going on, and he gave me a general idea on where in the book to look for the info I needed for each assignment, but he also gave me a big lecture on buying the right edition.

Just my thoughts...

 

[LuvOrlando]

-

 

[Cindy B]

Since it is a 102 version course, I would wait. It has been my experience that in the 100 and 200 level courses, the professors are pickier about the editions.

It may have to do with the students are predominately younger and the profs are trying to impose the idea of "following directions".

I would wait and see.

If it was a higher level course or further in the college I would say hold off. I can't tell you how many times my profs have said, don't bother buying the books -- I'm required to hand in a list of texts but we don't need to use them.

In the past two semesters, I have returned more books than ever.

Here's another low cost idea if you feel you must have the new edition:

Go to your local township library armed with the new eidtion ISBN, authors, and edition. Go to the reference section and ask for an Interlibrary loan. You have to say interlibrary!

Give them the ISBN and you will have to fill out a form. In about a week or two, you will get your new text for FREE! I've done this a ton and have gotten textbooks from other libraries in Texas, Connecticut, Kentucky and New Jersey.

The interlibrary loan works especially well for shortened 5 week semesters.

 

[browneyes106]

FOR THE RECORD - I AM ON MY SOAPBOX...

The revision of textbooks is just a big scam, and the professors get pressure from the textbook companies to update their textbooks, so that students "HAVE" to purchase them, and then...surprise surprise...the textbook companies make more money. From what I understand, this just irritates the professors, because they aren't about the money (or they would be in private industry) they are really about teaching the kids.

I would personally use the old version, find where there is a copy in a campus library - where you can occasionally review the current text if it varies substantially from what your textbook is.

Yep that does happen a lot. A few professors at my college were really upset about stuff like that going on.

 

[zurgswife]

Thanks for all the advice. I'm going to purchase the older version. I know the books required as it is an online course and she has already listed the books. I have a class on campus so I think I'll go early and take a look at the correct textbook in the library and compare it to what I purchased and note any differences....If it is truly that different; looks like I'll be out of pocket all of about $7. So, I'll buy the correct version if I have to at the cost of $59.

I think it should be very different but I could be wrong.

 

[Pigeon]

I'm an academic librarian. Most academic libraries do not buy copies of text books. We may have a copy on reserve if the professor put it there, but otherwise we don't. Please don't count on the library to have textbooks for a given class unless you know it is the particular library's policy to do so or that there's a copy on reserve.

As to the difference between editions, it can be very minor or it can be a major revision. There's really no way to tell without reading a comprehensive review or comparing the editions.

 

[Pigeon]

Here's another low cost idea if you feel you must have the new edition:

Go to your local township library armed with the new eidtion ISBN, authors, and edition. Go to the reference section and ask for an Interlibrary loan. You have to say interlibrary!

Give them the ISBN and you will have to fill out a form. In about a week or two, you will get your new text for FREE! I've done this a ton and have gotten textbooks from other libraries in Texas, Connecticut, Kentucky and New Jersey.

The interlibrary loan works especially well for shortened 5 week semesters.

Our ILL department will no longer do ILL for text books because there is generally only a two week loan period, and it is increasingly difficult to get the books in the first place and to get the students to return the books to the lending library on time.

 

[Cindy B]

Our ILL department will no longer do ILL for text books because there is generally only a two week loan period, and it is increasingly difficult to get the books in the first place and to get the students to return the books to the lending library on time.

Really, I have had no problem actually requesting the books. My township library will start with libararies in NJ-- sometimes it is another county library, another township library, or a college/university in NJ.

The problem begins if the material is not available in NJ. That does take longer and if it is out of NJ, the ILL period is extended to from either 2 to 3 weeks or 3 to 4 weeks.

I have had wonderful luck getting textbooks or just other books (especially bilingual books) for my classes.

 

[Cindy B]

Thanks for all the advice. I'm going to purchase the older version. I know the books required as it is an online course and she has already listed the books. I have a class on campus so I think I'll go early and take a look at the correct textbook in the library and compare it to what I purchased and note any differences....If it is truly that different; looks like I'll be out of pocket all of about $7. So, I'll buy the correct version if I have to at the cost of $59.

I think it should be very different but I could be wrong.

I've taken about 15 online courses and sometimes you don't even use the book!

DH got his entire Associates online (at a local community college) and there were some classes that he bought a book, but hardly used it-- one English course comes to mind as well as a Sociology and business course.

 

[Pigeon]

One option that seems to work pretty well for many students is to go in with a couple of good friends on an expensive text book. You do need to coordinate usage, but it can save a significant amount of money.

 

[Parkers_girl]

I always purchase the older editions and the only thing that is different sometimes is the page numbers. It really saves a ton of money by using the old editions, but the only downfall is that you can't do "buyback" at the end of the semester, which is fine because instead of paying $80 for a 6th edition, I might pay $20 for the 5th.

I also don't buy my books until classes actually start, you'd be surprised how many professors don't even use the books. I think out of my 5 classes this past semester I only used books for 2 of them.

 

[pezheadmeg]

For $7, buy the older version. It's not like you'll be out a small fortune. When I took 102, most of the stories were easily found in the public library or a bookstore. As a matter of fact, Death of a Salesman was reading from the text, I bought the $6 copy at Barnes and Noble simply to avoid hauling the text book for 2 weeks.

I had one class in College Round 1, for which I had the older text book. It was a law case book, and through out the semester I only had to pull 2 cases off Lexis! Granted I had used the older edition for a previous class and cleared it with the professor ahead of time. What I did do was use a friend's text book to label the specific readings for each week and I worked out fine. If you're lucky the prof will actually label the reading assignments, you can pull everything before the semester even starts.

 

[Pigeon]

For $7, buy the older version. It's not like you'll be out a small fortune. When I took 102, most of the stories were easily found in the public library or a bookstore. As a matter of fact, Death of a Salesman was reading from the text, I bought the $6 copy at Barnes and Noble simply to avoid hauling the text book for 2 weeks.

If you go this route, please make sure that you line up all the reading material at the beginning of the semester, as soon as you get the syllabus.

I can't tell you how many students we see at the university library's reference desk who have chosen not to buy the required texts. Yes, we have a couple of copies of Death of a Salesman and other standard works of literature. But if you are in a large lecture class, and half the class decides not to purchase the text, we are unable to help the vast majority of students to come to us at the last minute looking to get a copy, when their classmates have already snagged the copies we have. If you have decided not to buy your pricey economics textbook, we are highly unlikely to have any copies.

Also be aware that many college libraries allow books to be recalled by other patrons. So, if you do check out Death of a Salesman at the beginning of the semester, but decide to wait to read it, you may find that it is recalled by another student just about the time you want to get around to reading it. If you don't return it ASAP, we charge very large fines.

I'm not trying to be negative--I just want to point out the pitfalls of deciding not to buy the books required for a course. I have a lot of sympathy for students in that the books are often outrageously priced and the constantly changing editions are a racket. But I deal with students who find themselves in a jam (and often in tears) from deciding not to buy the books on a daily basis.